stagnant

Since the last post the old bankroll on full tilt has been pretty stagnant at just under 20 buyins to 100nl. I have decided that i wont play 100nl on ft again until i have 20 buyins on there as this has always worked in the past for me. Hopefully ill be turning around the -33.5 BB/100hands at 100nl soon. I have found that since i last played lots of hours of 50nl full ring on ft (last summer) the games have tightened up a lot and i often find myself on tables where all the players are seeing 20% of flops. To get action i now have to keep a high turn over of tables moving on when the grinders set in. The only monetary positive i can take from all this is that im generating rakeback and expect to get about $60 back for the past two weeks. Ive set aside £45 for betting on the world snooker championship comming up next month, the only bet planned so far is laying against ronnie for the win when he beats Liu Chuang in the first round. Paul if ur reading the offer of a last longer with selby and higgens is still open to you :-).

new found optimism

I found a bit of my old poker confidence again last night. I had been down a few buyins at 50nl and was on the verge of giving up for the day when i finally made a good read;

Full Tilt Poker Game #5767454694: Table Dancing Leaf - $0.25/$0.50 - No Limit Holdem - 18:06:11 ET - 2008/03/24
Seat 1: Ixibat ($10)
Seat 2: WULLFMAN ($23)
Seat 3: GrrrMyLove ($38.95)
Seat 4: SCOTTAJR ($17.85)
Seat 5: Domino516 ($80.15)
Seat 6: scep99 ($39.45)
Seat 7: AA_REAL_MAN ($126.15)
Seat 8: Mr_Rahl ($51.35)
Seat 9: govornater ($31.25)
GrrrMyLove posts the small blind of $0.25
SCOTTAJR posts the big blind of $0.50
The button is in seat #2
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to Mr_Rahl [9d 9c]
Domino516 calls $0.50
scep99 raises to $2
AA_REAL_MAN folds
AA_REAL_MAN is sitting out
Mr_Rahl calls $2
govornater folds
WULLFMAN calls $2
GrrrMyLove folds
SCOTTAJR folds
Domino516 calls $1.50
*** FLOP *** [7h Tc 2d]
Domino516 checks
scep99 bets $4.50
Mr_Rahl calls $4.50
WULLFMAN has 15 seconds left to act
WULLFMAN folds
Domino516 folds
*** TURN *** [7h Tc 2d] [5s]
scep99 bets $17.75
Mr_Rahl has 15 seconds left to act
Mr_Rahl has requested TIME
Mr_Rahl raises to $35.50
scep99 has 15 seconds left to act
scep99 is sitting out
scep99 has timed out
scep99 folds
Uncalled bet of $17.75 returned to Mr_Rahl

In this hand i nearly insta folded when he made a pot size raise on the turn but then thought about it and couldnt see why he would do this with an overpair or even a 10 especially when there wasnt any easy draws he could be trying to price me out of, so i put him virtually allin and took the pot down. I went on to recover all my losses for the day and turn a slight profit, its very likely that this still will be my biggest loosing month ever but at least I havent given up. I have attached a graph of the easter break so far.

online activity

Right lets get sitngos and tournaments out of the way first, im not a particularly good player/ big winner in either of these formats. My sitngo game can only be described as poor you can find my full tilt and pokerstars results on sharkscope (username on both is Mr_Rahl). As for tournaments it looks slightly better again you can see full tilt and pokerstars results here http://officialpokerrankings.com/pokerstars/Mr_Rahl/poker/results/BFD7ADE2CBEB442F9D7DFC80FCE67518.html?t=2
http://officialpokerrankings.com/fulltiltpoker/Mr_Rahl/poker/results/A0BC74604B874929891F10A34D948052.html?t=2
Selecting full tracking will give you lifetime results for these sites. I have a couple of nice results on ultimate bet and poker333 but I don’t know how to get at them so full tilt and pokerstars will have to do.
Now onto cash games which I primarily play. I have been a 50nl player for about 9 months and have 16 thousand hands logged on poker office (I have played more than this its just poker office hasn’t been the most reliable program). As it stands at the moment at 50nl I am up $740 over these hands at a rate of 4.65 BB/100hands. I’m not a huge multi-tabler but that might have something to do with playing on a laptop where I like a maximum of 3 tables at once.
I returned home about 8 days ago looking forward to be able to play on full tilt (I can only play on pokerstars with no rake back when in uni which poker office wont seem to work on) and logging some hands. After assessing my situation my online bankroll was well enough to start playing 100nl and have a good go at it. Unfortunately all hasn’t gone to plan during the last week as I have dropped about $400 in those games and my overall 100nl stats are 985 hands at a loss of $660. Even though this is my biggest monetary loss to date a four buy in downswing happens. This loss is bothering me not because of the money but because of my play in those 1000 hands. I would be content if I had this loss while playing my normal game or even an average game as I have been on a bit of a bad run but some of the plays I have been making have just been stupid. Here are a couple of examples.

Full Tilt Poker Game #5749544997: Table Elizabeth (6 max) - $0.50/$1 - No Limit Holdem - 10:37:06 ET - 2008/03/23
Seat 1: Mr_Rahl ($58)
Seat 2: Fr4nt1c ($100)
Seat 3: Minken39 ($71.75)
Seat 4: FT2007 ($101.50)
Seat 5: tisme x ($46.10)
Seat 6: spucke ($84.70)
Mr_Rahl posts the small blind of $0.50
Fr4nt1c has 5 seconds left to act
Fr4nt1c posts the big blind of $1
The button is in seat #6
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to Mr_Rahl [3h 3d]
Minken39 folds
FT2007 raises to $3.50
tisme x folds
spucke folds
Mr_Rahl calls $3
Fr4nt1c folds
*** FLOP *** [Qh 9c 2s]
spucke is feeling happy
Mr_Rahl checks
FT2007 bets $6
Mr_Rahl has 15 seconds left to act
Mr_Rahl raises to $18
FT2007 has 15 seconds left to act
FT2007 calls $12
*** TURN *** [Qh 9c 2s] [7c]
Mr_Rahl has 15 seconds left to act
Mr_Rahl bets $36.50, and is all in
FT2007 calls $36.50
Mr_Rahl shows [3h 3d]
FT2007 shows [Ks Kd]
*** RIVER *** [Qh 9c 2s 7c] [2c]
Mr_Rahl shows two pair, Threes and Twos
FT2007 shows two pair, Kings and Twos
FT2007 wins the pot ($114) with two pair, Kings and Twos

In this hand the villain had raised the previous two hands so even though I had him down as a tight aggressive good player I didn’t give him any credit in this hand and made a silly push on the turn.

Full Tilt Poker Game #5739794301: Table Munoz - $0.50/$1 - No Limit Holdem - 16:27:35 ET - 2008/03/22
Seat 1: olegvin ($103.35)
Seat 2: Texas_Crossfire ($118.70)
Seat 3: spicycabbage ($100)
Seat 4: Mr_Rahl ($120.15)
Seat 5: Siman Says ($82.95)
Seat 6: Rio Jim ($67.65)
Seat 7: tanto666 ($87.15)
Seat 8: damoventy ($143.90)
Seat 9: xjhacking ($134.15)
xjhacking posts the small blind of $0.50
olegvin posts the big blind of $1
The button is in seat #8
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to Mr_Rahl [2s 2h]
Texas_Crossfire folds
spicycabbage folds
Mr_Rahl raises to $3
Siman Says folds
Rio Jim folds
tanto666 folds
damoventy folds
xjhacking folds
olegvin calls $2
*** FLOP *** [Qc Qh 8h]
olegvin checks
Mr_Rahl has 15 seconds left to act
Mr_Rahl bets $4
olegvin calls $4
*** TURN *** [Qc Qh 8h] [5d]
olegvin checks
Mr_Rahl bets $9
olegvin raises to $18
Mr_Rahl calls $9
*** RIVER *** [Qc Qh 8h 5d] [7h]
olegvin bets $19
Mr_Rahl has 15 seconds left to act
Mr_Rahl folds

Here the villain was again relatively tight and I donked off money to him, maybe it had something to do with being min raised.

Full Tilt Poker Game #5710070474: Table Center (6 max) - $0.50/$1 - No Limit Holdem - 10:55:58 ET - 2008/03/20
Seat 1: attl ($58.20)
Seat 2: NevarBluffin ($84.50)
Seat 3: BadPete_1 ($109.90)
Seat 4: KennoClassic ($199)
Seat 5: Mr_Rahl ($72.60)
Mr_Rahl posts the small blind of $0.50
attl posts the big blind of $1
The button is in seat #4
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to Mr_Rahl [Jc Ts]
NevarBluffin folds
BadPete_1 folds
KennoClassic folds
Mr_Rahl raises to $4
attl calls $3
*** FLOP *** [Ah As Kc]
Mr_Rahl bets $6
attl calls $6
*** TURN *** [Ah As Kc] [5c]
Mr_Rahl bets $14
attl calls $14
*** RIVER *** [Ah As Kc 5c] [2d]
Mr_Rahl bets $48.60, and is all in
attl calls $34.20, and is all in
Uncalled bet of $14.40 returned to Mr_Rahl
*** SHOW DOWN ***
Mr_Rahl shows [Jc Ts] a pair of Aces
attl shows [Kh 2h] two pair, Aces and Kings
attl wins the pot ($113.40) with two pair, Aces and Kings

This hand again shows my bad timing and over aggression.

finally up to date

I started uni in October 2007 looking forward to living away from home and moving on with my life. After the commotion of freshers week I found my first poker game a £3 sitngo in college which I bubbled in. Fortunately there was another game available heads up omaha sitngos with Matt Gamble. I offered to play for £1 a go but we eventually agreed to play for fun as we were still unknowns to each other. At the time I had played few live games and gave away the strength of my hands readily. One memorable hand occurred when I had the nut straight on the turn on a non-paired board with two spades. The river came a third spade and gamble pulled off a well timed check raise bluff sensing I didn’t like the spade to take the pot and the pride.
I started to play poker society tournaments every Saturday evenings and cashed in the first two. Through Gamble and showing an interest at poker society I got an invite to a 5p 10p student home game at James Key’s house the society president.
Gamble assured me it was a loose game with some crazy play. Unfortunately on this occasion I was one of the biggest fish, I played tight weak nervous and got destroyed dropping four buyins. This result sounds like a disaster but I was ecstatic about it, the play had shown me how far I had to go and the next level of play to aspire to.
I played a lot of poker over the two terms with most of it being live. The most notable action being the New Inn game, a game set up by locals and played in the New Inn. Gamble again assured me it was fishy but I was wary this time. It is a gamblers game 25 50p with a £10 buy in with a few locals and a few students. For the first hour of my first attempt I took a while getting into the swing of things, this was a bigger game than I was used to as a 50nl player online and this game effectively being 100nl with people looking for a gamble. I had to survive 2 all-ins in the first hour to avoid re-buying, once when I had an up and downer and once when my opponent had the same draw, fortunately I won both of these hands. After that I started to get comfortable (a couple of pints might have helped) and around 12-1am we had a lock in. For the rest of the game I thought I played well, this I believe was partly due to the fact that I stopped viewing the chips in monetary value and just counted then as chips, and cashed out about £100 at 3am. This is my biggest win on a single cash table to date, overall in the New Inn game I’m up about £120 but I feel I ran well in two of the three sessions. They are great fun games and a social occasion more than anything and I feel I have learnt a lot playing against the regulars improving my game greatly.

In late February Gamble as social secretary of poker soc organised its first social of the year a trip to aspers casino in Newcastle on a Friday. I had been awake since 7.30am and had already put in a few hours poker before Keys picked up the aidans crew at about 7pm to go to Newcastle. I had been meaning to visit aspers from before I got to Durham so was happy to be finally going. There were about 12 of us altogether planning on playing the £20 freeze out and having a few drinks. We arrived in aspers with plenty of time to have a drink before registering for the tournament, me and Gamble agreed to swap 10% of ourselves to make things more interesting. I was very happy with my table as it appeared some of my opponents had no idea how to play the game however I played too tight and at the first break my chip stack was the same size as it had started. After the first break the blinds started to rise quickly and it turned into a bit of a craps shoot, I was out shortly afterwards when I overplaying KQ pre-flop. Fortunately my investment in Matt paid off when he cashed for £90 or so cutting down my losses for the evening.
As we were leaving aspers at about 2am I suggested we carried on the poker back in Durham, a group of us were up for it so we started playing a 5 10p cash game when we got back to aidans in the early hours. This turned out to be one of the most entertaining games I have ever played. There were seven of us playing in the jcr and we eventually got £200-300 on the table. I had a cup of tea at about 4am which gave me an edge over the sleeping Matt and Nick. Somehow we managed to play until midday having some food when breakfast opened at 8am. You can find Guy’s account of the night here http://diaryofagrinder.blogspot.com/2008_02_01_archive.html
That brings us to now and the easter break, ill cover my online status and results in the next post. Isaac

how it began

For those of you that don’t already know me my name is Isaac Blake and I am in my first year at Durham university studying physics. I’m starting this blog as I find myself regularly checking other peoples blogs so its time to give something back.

I finished school in 2006 but hadn’t got accepted into any universities that I wanted mostly due to poor GCSE grades. When I got AAAB in my a-levels I decided to wait a year and try again.
So I was on a unplanned year out and fully expected to have to get a job for most of it as there wasn’t much money in the bank and I had my car to keep running. I turned 18 at the end of august and soon found poker. I owe most of my initial interest in poker to Poker Night Live on sky 843 (unfortunately they got cancelled last year). The advice and banter on pnl lead to my first and only deposit on their supported site poker333.
Initially I played $1 sng’s and worked my way up through the levels. At the time I had heard that 20 buyins was what was needed to be rolled, on reflection im lucky I didn’t go broke through variance and had to step down a few times. When I found that $5 sng’s weren’t making as much for me as I would have liked I tried the 2 5 cent cash tables and haven’t looked back since. Not exactly sure of the timescale but after about 5 months I had a bank roll of $600-$800 and was playing 10 20 cent.

In feb 07 I got an email from poker333 about a $100k free roll I was eligible for in aid of some anniversary. I met the entery requirements they set me and registered for the tournament. On the first Sunday in march I sat down to play the tournament, to my great surprise there were only around 830 entrants. This was clearly a far bigger tournament than I would likely be playing in the near future with a cost per entrant of about $125.
I gave all my attention to the game and played solid poker identifying the weak players. Unfortunately I was having problems with migraines at the time so was forced to take pain killers and a cloth about half way through just to keep me at the computer. Normally this would put me out for the rest of the night and I did consider packing it in after a few hours but I decided to stick it out. I had one crucial hand at the 1 in 3 paid stage when the blinds were getting high and my chips went in with AK against QQ and JJ luckily a K flopped and gave me the chip lead accelerating me through the bubble. The prize money started at about $200 this was big money for such a small bankroll.
As people got knocked out the minimum prize money increased, I played a steady and patient game and still feel I played some of the best poker I have ever played. I found myself heads up at about 3am. The final hand of the tournament the villain had a 2 to 1 chip advantage on me and pushed from the button, as the blinds were so big I called with A3o expecting it to be ahead and he flipped KQo. Unfortunately a Q flopped and it was over I got $17.5k for 2nd and the villain got $37.5k. I instantly checked my balance to see if it was real and sure enough the money was in my account. At 3am I woke my parents to tell them the good news they were stunned and thrilled at the result.
At this point I would like to say I skipped the lower limits and started at 2 5 dollar cash, but I didn’t and withdrew $17,000 the next week. This left me enough to deposit $600 on full tilt to take advantage of the rake back and bonus.
In September 2007 (just before I started university) my bankroll stood at about $4000 online mainly from cash on full tilt and a few tournament cashes on top, the highest being $500.
Sorry about the history lesson in this my 1st post but I though it necessary to get it in before I can look at the future. Hopefully in the second post ill cover my first two terms of uni and aims for the future. Feel free to comment Isaac.